Results from round 27:
Serie A table:
Once again no win for the Milan sides
Even if not as poorly as their city rivals, Milan are also in an underperforming period. The fight to win the league is almost turning into a fight to lose it, as Milan once again draw a game after moving up the score.
Rafael Leao’s great season continued with another goal, but Udinese were the most dangerous side at the San Siro and got a goal back with Iyenoma Udogie, which was very contested due to a possible handball.
With Inter seemingly unable to win, Milan will regret having lost another chance to pull away. It’s the second consecutive game neither of the two teams win.
Inter are not the same side as they were a few months ago
A difficult calendar and a drop in form have left their consequences. Inter failed to win against 19th placed Genoa, who in contrast get their fifth consecutive draw, with a difficult game that is now causing worries.
Two points in the last four games, six in the last six. After a run with 31 points in 11 games, Inter’s month of February has been absolutely dreadful and they will be delighted it’s over. For the second consecutive game, they failed to score, after they were on a consecutive run of 39 before the month started.
Genoa were heroic and fully deserved the draw, but it’s pretty clear that, despite having a game in hand, Inter are no more holding an advantage.
Bologna one step away from relegation, Salernitana one step towards
Salernitana improved recently. They are unbeaten in four games and got half of their points in their last seven. However, yet another draw means that moving out of the relegation zone is looking less likely as time moves by.
They needed a win, but Bologna proved too much, even if they couldn’t hold to their lead. Marko Arnautovic scored first, Nadir Zortea equalised, before Nicola Sansone struck the upright close to stoppage time.
Bologna move up to 32 points and sit in 12th. It looks like they will survive for another season, even if it’s a bit disappointing to see the top 10 in which they sat comfortably for the first-half, slip so far away.
Embed from Getty ImagesVlahovic injects belief to Juventus
With the frontrunners moving ever more slowly, Juventus are miraculously closing the gap and may find themselves in a title scrap that looked unthinkable months ago.
Dusan Vlahovic scored two goals against Empoli to get all three points in a 3-2 win which was in doubt until the end.
Whilst Empoli are winless in 10 games now, Juventus are the in-form side and now sit seven points behind Milan and Napoli, in fourth place.
Sassuolo get another big win at the last gasp
With time, Sassuolo are proving that their project with coach Alessio Dionisi is serious and that they haven’t after all lost the good things they showed in 2020/21. On Saturday, they conceded an equaliser at the 88th minute against Fiorentina, but came back with Gregoire Defrel winning the game in stoppage time.
With this win, Sassuolo got 18 points in their last nine games against sides in the top eight. That is the exact half of their point tally.
It’s very surprising to see how well they perform in these contests, but equally shocking to see that despite these encouraging results, they are not in the mix with them.
Embed from Getty ImagesCagliari are flying under Walter Mazzarri
Cagliari had the merit of believing in a manager even when times didn’t look right and despite a slow start by Walter Mazzarri, after he replaced Leonardo Semplici, the Sardinians are finally looking like a serious side.
This is something unusual in Serie A, where managers typically have a short time to prove themselves, but Cagliari’s fourth win in eight games in 2022, adding up to 15 points means they are one of the most in-form teams.
They are enduring a great run and even managed to inflict Torino a rare home defeat. Raoul Bellanova and Alessandro Deiola were protagonists with goals in their 2-1 win, but goalkeeper Alessio Cragno also left his mark.
Simeone is super and Verona move close to top seven
After a long drought, Giovanni Simeone was back on the scoresheet and did so in a tremendous way, with a hat-trick against Venezia. It was a dominant win for Verona, which now sit three points behind Lazio, who occupy seventh.
Igor Tudor’s side has the second most points in 2022 out of anyone and inflicted Venezia a heavy defeat, which now means they are four points away from 17th.
Simeone scored in eight games this campaign, but a various amount of multiple goals means that his tally is up to 15, only less than Ciro Immobile and Dusan Vlahovic.
Abraham leaves it late, as Spezia fail to resist
With a top four finish seemingly out of reach, Roma have to fight hard if they want to keep in the mix and finish in the top seven. Tammy Abraham delivered joy for Roma’s latest ever Serie A goal, at the 99th minute.
Spezia were down to 10 men for all of the second-half and Roma looked to score at certain times, but missed many chances, including a few in which they hit the post.
At the 94th minute, of 93 scheduled, the unthinkable happened. Nicolo Zaniolo hit the crossbar twice in one second and the ball didn’t go in despite an infinite series of attempted tap ins.
One of the challenges was considered a foul and Spezia conceded a penalty late on, which Abraham calmly collected before erupting in joy.
Napoli until the end to move top
A very significant win for Napoli gives them back the lead of the Serie A after more than two months. Next week’s clash against Milan can be crucial, but who knows if, out of nowhere, Napoli are suddenly favourites, given they don’t have to play in other competitions.
Fabian Ruiz won the game at the 94th minute, after Pedro had equalised Lorenzo Insigne’s first non-penalty goal of the campaign just minutes later. It was such a significant win, given the opponent and how it arrived.
With only 11 games left, the title race is wide open. Napoli, after blowing a seven points lead to drop as far as seven points behind, are suddenly coming back and who knows if the position of outsiders may favour Luciano Spalletti’s squad.
Atalanta keep top four dreams alive
A decisive performance saw Atalanta return to winning ways at home for the first time since a 4-0 win against Venezia in November. It was another 4-0, this time against Sampdoria.
Mario Pasalic was on the scoresheet first, followed by Teun Koopmeiners, who found two goals to celebrate his birthday in the best way. Russian Aleksei Miranchuk scored the fourth goal, before refusing to celebrate due to the war in Ukraine.
Atalanta remain to within three points of Juventus and have a game in hand, hoping this result can get them going once more. Sampdoria, on the other hand, have alternated great home games to poor away performances under Marco Giampaolo.
For the previous Serie A column click here.
For more football content click here.
For more sport content click here.
